The U.S. men’s national team lost to Trinidad and Tobago in its final qualifying game last month, and won’t play in the World Cup for the first time since 1986. But the U.S. won’t be the only big country missing out on Russia 2018.

The USMNT needed to whoop on Panama tonight, and they got off to a thrilling start, unzipping the Panamanian defense twice in the first 20 minutes and adding a penalty right before halftime. The entire first half was a thrilling affair despite the soggy Orlando pitch, and there could have been at least half a dozen…

On the same day that Brazilian federal police made early-morning corruption arrests of three Olympic committee executives, including the head of the Rio 2016 Committee—a good reminder that people do financially benefit from hosting major international sporting events, just never the people that are supposed to—a…

Soccer fans who travel to see some hot World Cup action next summer in Yekaterinburg, the easternmost of Russia’s 11 host cities, will not only get to watch soccer from inside a stadium, they’ll also simultaneously get to watch soccer from outside the very same stadium, thanks to some creative construction. The…

The United States Men’s National Team has two games left in CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying, two games against teams that, by all accounts, the USMNT should not have any problems dispatching. Trinidad & Tobago have gotten owned more or less nonstop throughout the Hex, and Panama were lousy enough to lose to T&T. Not…

For most of the world’s elite national teams, qualifying for the World Cup is a charade. Sure, Spain and Germany and the other powerhouses have to earn their places into the world’s biggest sporting event, but because those countries are so reliably great, they can generally nab their spot without their fans ever…

Tanks, next to supports, are the often the unsung heroes of a match. So when you make one of the bigger plays of the game, even on the main stage of the Overwatch World Cup qualifiers, it’s fine to gloat a little.

The Aspire Academy’s listed mission statement is to “develop well educated sports champions” and “foster Qatar society realizing a healthy, active lifestyle.” The Qatari government founded Aspire in 2003, building a state-of-the-art sports complex in Doha with the aim of identifying and training athletes from the tiny…

Today brought the release of the 430-page report on World Cup corruption that FIFA fought to keep secret for nearly three years. One section of that report details the FIFA Ethics Committee’s investigation into potential corruption by the Russian bid committee that secured the 2018 World Cup. The report concludes that…

The United States Men’s National Soccer Team started out the last round of World Cup qualifiers in the most embarrassing way possible, losing to Mexico at home then getting ripped apart down in Costa Rica. The results were bad, although CONCACAF qualification is generous to say the least, though what was most…

The U.S.-led North American bid for the 2026 World Cup earned 93 percent of the 209 votes in FIFA Congress today. In March, the North American soccer federations requested an exclusive window to begin submitting technical specifications, which would give them a head start in the planning process. But this week, FIFA,…

Here are some descriptors that come to mind when thinking about the current format of the World Cup, the greatest sporting event on the planet: perfect, simple, just-the-right-size, well-designed, riveting. Here are some words that will soon come to be associated with the World Cup after greedy-ass FIFA fucks the…

The best player in the world and slight potty mouth Lionel Messi is appealing the four-match ban that was handed down by FIFA yesterday after he yelled at a referee in Argentina’s 1-0 World Cup qualifier win over Chile last week. Messi says he didn’t direct his insult, “la concha de tu madre,” a common Argentinean…

Over the weekend, two days after Chile’s 1-0 World Cup qualifier loss to Argentina and three days before their must-win qualifier against Venezuela, star striker Alexis Sanchez was fined for driving 96 mph (155 kph) near Santiago, Chile, according to Chilean website EMOL. His court date has reportedly been set for…

In the leadup to the U.S. men’s national team’s critical World Cup qualifier tonight against Honduras, the usual and deserved attention has been predictably focused on Christian Pulisic, who, if you somehow still need an introduction, is the young American phenom lighting it up for Borussia Dortmund abroad and…

The docket at the FIFA governing council’s meeting tomorrow morning in Zurich includes the following items: “Approval of the Media and Marketing Regulations for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017”; “Monitoring Committee Israel-Palestine”; as well as “Format of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”

The United States Men’s National Team lost to Mexico 2-1 in Columbus, Ohio, tonight, its first loss in World Cup qualifying on home soil since 2001. It was the fifth straight World Cup qualifying cycle the U.S. has opted to take on Mexico in Columbus, and the first time they didn’t win 2-0. Dos a cero is finally dead.